Dog Days
by Stormwolf
Summary: Steve wakes up to find out that he is not himself. Be advised that this is made up, and elements in the story are not taken from any religion, or organization.
1. Default Chapter

Oh man my head hurts, Steve thought as he woke up slowly. He couldn't remember the night before, but he was already regretting it. I'll never drink again. Was his solemn promise to himself.  
  
Opening his eyes, Steve blinked. What the hell? He was in an alley lying on some old cardboard boxes, but the strangest thing was that everything was in shades of gray. Just black and white, not one spot of color. Steve was confused.  
  
Slowly he tried to get to his feet, only to discover something rather amazing, and frightening. He had four feet!  
  
Steve looked down at the paws that now belonged to him. He turned his head, and saw his furry back, and the curled tail. I'm a dog. He thought, I must be dreaming. This had got to be a dream.  
  
He moved, one paw at a time, trying to get used to the feel of moving on four paws. It didn't take long, his brain was already getting used to the idea of four legs, rather than two.  
  
Once he oriented himself, Steve took a look around. He was in an alley behind a Chinese restaurant. The trash cans held leftover food, some rotting, some just recently dumped. His nose could detect it all. He could smell the number of people who had passed through the alley, the smell of urine from rats, dogs, and cats as well as the stench of human urine. He was not overwhelmed by the smells, rather they were something his mind registered then pushed to the background.  
  
Steve was unsure of what happened, but he knew that if anyone could help, it was his father, Mark Sloan. Padding out of the alley, Steve made it to the sidewalk in front of the Chinese Restaurant. He looked up at the street signs, and discovered he was several miles from the Community General Hospital. Sighing to himself, Steve decided that he wouldn't get there until he tried.  
  
As he walked along the sidewalk, it never occurred to Steve how he would get his father to realize that the German Shepard dog was in fact his only son. 


	2. Heading Home

Children found Steve rather delightful, and would, if their parents weren't paying close enough attention, reach out their hands and pet him as he trotted by. Steve became use to the feel of children's hands petting his fur, but he did not stop his forward movement, and each child only managed one pat before Steve walked away.  
  
Within a few hours of walking, Steve was becoming tired, hungry and thirsty. Fortunatly his thirst was slated easily as he come upon a group of children playing in the water spraying from a fire hydrant. While the children petted him enthusiastically, Steve lapped up the water with his doggy tongue.  
  
The children tried to get Steve to go with them, but he was reluctant, knowing he still had a long way to go. One of the children got sneaky, however, buying a hotdog from a nearby vendor to tempt Steve with. Steve's stomach rumbled, and his mouth watered at the smell of the hotdog.  
  
So for several minutes, Steve ate the hot dog, and the children patted and played with him. Steve even a fetched a few sticks, and even caught a Frisbee a few times in the air. As he played with the children, he never noticed that his tan and brown tail wagged incessantly.  
  
Eventually, the children were called in for dinner by their parents. Each of them had bought him a hotdog from the vendor, so Steve was no longer hungry. He gave each of the children a sloppy kiss with his tongue, which made them laugh and giggle. With one last pat to his furry head, they went inside.  
  
The sun was beginning to set, and Steve entered a deserted alley, deserted except for a few rats that scurried away at his scent, and found a cardboard box sitting beside the trashcans. Steve settled down in the cardboard box and laid his head on his paws. He wondered if his Dad was totally frantic by now, and he hope that Jesse and Amanda were with him. He still had a long way to go, but he hoped he made tomorrow when he would have the whole day to travel.  
  
Mark Sloan sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair beside the bed. The slow beeping sound of the heart monitor reassured Mark that the patient was still alive, and he held on to that like a lifeline. Mark had been a doctor for years, but all his medical knowledge had been for naught when he couldn't even discover why he found his son at home in an unexplained coma.  
  
Amanda entered the room, and glanced at the EEG to see that Steve was still in the coma. And still alive. She then turned her attention to Mark.  
  
"Mark, you need to rest." She said. "The hospital will call you if there is any change."  
  
"I can't leave, Amanda. Not while my son needs me." Mark answered.  
  
Amanda laid a hand on his shoulder, "Mark, Steve needs you healthy and at your best. Please, go home and get some sleep. Take a shower. Get something to eat."  
  
It took more coaxing, but eventually, Dr. Sloan saw that Amanda knew best. And he made his way home, his son's condition on his mind as he drove. 


	3. Clues and Trouble

When Mark made it home, he entered his house. Walking into his son's bedroom, Mark took the opportunity to look around, hoping to find something that might explain the coma. Steve had been checked over thoroughly, and no needle marks, or puncture wounds had been found. As Mark explored his son' room using his critical surgeon's eye, Mark spotted something sticking out from between the mattress and the box spring. Lifting the mattress, Mark pulled out a strange object. The object turned out to be bundle of dried herbs with a pungent odor, some tan hairs, and dried blood. Curious, Mark took the bundle from Steve's room, and laid it on the kitchen table. Deciding that he would take the bundle in the next day to have it analyzed, Mark went up stairs and took a shower, then crawled into bed. Because he knew that worry for his son would keep him awake, Mark prescribed himself a sleeping aid. Within an hour, Mark Sloan fell into a restful sleep.  
  
Steve was awakened by the garbage truck coming to collect the garbage. One of the garbage men got of the truck, and went to collect the empty boxes. He was startled when Steve came out of one of the boxes.  
  
"Nice, doggy." The man said nervously obviously afraid of dogs.  
  
Steve ignored him, and left the alley. He was hungry, and thirsty. The water no longer flowed from the fire hydrant, and the only water was gathered in puddles that didn't look very tempting. The morning traffic was on the move, people trying to get to work, or get their children to school. It was a Monday after all. Steve wondered what the Chief would think of his absence.  
  
He trotted along down the sidewalk heading for Community General. He still had along walk ahead of him, and hoped he would find food and water along the way.  
  
The only water Steve found that he was tempted to drink was from a hose being used by a man to clean off the sidewalk. Steve lapped at the spray until the man chased him off with a wave and shout. But he had managed to get enough to wet his mouth.  
  
Food was another problem that he would just have to do without. Al the children were at school, and none of the adults looked willing to give food to stray dog. Finally Steve forced himself to wait for a man at a restaurant to dump some of the leftovers into the garbage. Chasing away a few cats, Steve managed to get a partly eaten steak that he wolfed down along with a few dinner rolls also partly eaten. He left the rest to the cats feeling slightly queasy from eating from the garbage.  
  
He continued on, trotting down the sidewalk, when he noticed a van drive by him slowly and park. Steve was quick to read the words on the side of the van, and decided to beat a quick retreat.  
  
The animal control man stepped out of his van with a long pole that had a loop at the end. It was used for catching dogs, and their had been reports of a big German Shepard about. He had noticed the animal run into an alley as soon as he parked. Holding the pole, the man went into the alley in search of the dog. 


	4. Findings and Musings

From his perch three stories up on the fire escape, Steve watched the animal control man enter the alley. Even though the ladder for the fire escape was down, the animal control man would never think to look up believing that dogs couldn't climb ladders. Steve, however, had seen some of the police dogs do just that, and decided he could too.  
  
So now he waited, crouched down on his belly, watching the man search through the alley for a German Shepard. Eventually the man gave up, and exited the alley. Steve waited, however, before climbing down the fire escape. He had to go slowly since it was so difficult, but eventually he had all four paws on the ground.  
  
I'm going to have to be more careful. I don't need to end up in the pound on death row, Steve thought with a shudder. He knew hundreds of stray dogs were put to sleep in LA every day. And the chances of a full grown dog getting adopted were low.  
  
Therefore, Steve decided to leave the sidewalks, and head into a nearby park. He increased his speed to that of a lope that he felt he could keep for a few hours. He ran through the park, running around the pond with its startled ducks, and then making his way across the street on the other side of the park. He knew from street signs where he was, and knew that Community General wasn't far now.  
  
  
  
Mark Sloan had taken the bundle he found in Steve's bed to Amanda. He told her where he had found it. Amanda knew Mark was desperate to find the cause for Steve's coma, and so worked quickly to analyze the bundle.  
  
While Amanda worked, Mark went to check on Steve. His son was still in a coma, but his heart still beat, and his body still breathed without the help of machines. That in itself was encouraging news. Mark took his place in the chair beside Steve's bed, and took his son's hand into his own.  
  
"Please wake up, soon, Steve." Mark whispered.  
  
Jesse, Steve's doctor, came into the room a few times to check on his patient. It was he who talked Mark into getting something to eat. Mark was reluctant to leave Steve, but he went with Jesse to the cafeteria.  
  
It was there Amanda found them.  
  
"Dog hairs?" Jesse said incredulously.  
  
"Specifically, German Shepard. The herbs are a mixture of yucca, cloth of gold, and chicory. "  
  
"That's a strange combination." Jesse said.  
  
"Yes it is. I wonder." Mark trailed off lost in thought.  
  
"You wonder what?" Amanda asked.  
  
"I am wondering what kind of magical properties these herbs have."  
  
"Magical properties," Jesse laughed.  
  
"Yes. The bundle suggest that whoever planted it there might believe in magic, and curses. It might help me figure out who did this to Steve. Amanda did you check Steve's blood for any herbs that might have done this to him?"  
  
"I checked as best as I could. Some herbs break down to quickly for us to determine what might have been introduced into his system." Amanda answered.  
  
"I'll think I'll be on the computer. I am going to look up this combination of herbs." Mark said.  
  
"I need to do my rounds. You don't really think magic was involved, do you Mark?" Jesse asked.  
  
"In a way perhaps. The person who harmed my son might believe in magic, but I have no doubt that it was a herb or poison of some sort that caused my son to be in a coma." Mark said, ever the scientist.  
  
Jesse nodded and the three of them left the cafeteria to begin their tasks. 


	5. Answers and More Questions

The sun was setting when Steve finally reached Cascade General. He wove his way through the parking lot, and headed to the main doors avoiding the people who entered and exited. As he reached the doors, he suddenly stopped looking at the sign on the glass that said No Pets Allowed. It was at that moment sitting there on his haunches that his full predicament hit him.  
  
Tail drooping, Steve turned and walked away from the doors ignoring the few pats he received as people walked past him. He made his way into the employee parking lot, and found his Dad's car. Quietly, he slipped beneath the car lying down on his belly as he waited. Eventually he closed his eyes, and slept.  
  
Mark had checked on the Internet after a bit of frustration and found that the herbs, Yucca, Cloth of Gold, and chicory did supposedly have magical properties. Cloth of Gold was to make one understand animal languages, chicory was for removing obstacles, and Yucca was for transmutation. Mark wondered if someone felt that Steve was an obstacle to be removed, but what did the others have to with it, and why the dog hairs. Eight hairs to be exact.  
  
"Mark!" Amanda's voice called to him, and Mark turned to see Amanda coming toward him.  
  
"Steve?" He questioned fear and hope rising in him at the same time.  
  
"I'm sorry Mark, there's no change. I was trying to find you because the most peculiar thing has just happened. How many hairs did you say that bundle had?" Amanda asked.  
  
"Eight. I counted them when I found them." Mark said.  
  
"I thought that was what you said. But just now, I was studying the hair, and one of them ignited and burned. I couldn't figure out what might have caused that. I thought perhaps sunlight had accidentally reflected off a curved mirror of some kind, but I noticed the sun had set."  
  
"You mean the hair burned just as the sun set?" Mark asked.  
  
Amanda nodded.  
  
"Its been two days since Steve fell into the coma. There were eight hairs, and now only seven." Mark trailed off as he became lost in thought.  
  
"Does that mean something?" Amanda asked.  
  
"Maybe." Mark said.  
  
"Did you find out about the herbs?" Amanda asked.  
  
Mark explained what he had found. "I think that someone believes Steve is an obstacle. I just remembered that Steve is supposed to be in court seven days from now."  
  
"Seven. What is the case about?"  
  
"A young man accused of murdering a child in a rather ritualistic manner." Mark said emphasizing the word ritualistic.  
  
"You think this has something to do with that trial, don't you."  
  
"Seven days till court, seven hairs. I would guess there had been nine hairs originally."  
  
"What happens after the seventh day?" Amanda asked.  
  
"I'm afraid to find out, Amanda." Mark said, his eyes telling her the answer with its profound sadness.  
  
Amanda wiped the tears from her own eyes. 


	6. Strange Conversation

Thanks for all the reviews; sorry it took so long to continue. This story is going to get a bit more fanciful, however do remember what the properties of the herbs were. More comments, and even suggestions are welcome.  
  
Beneath his father's car, Steve was awakened by a voice that sounded strange. He looked up and was surprised to find a salt and pepper Miniature Schnauzer lying on it belly in front of him.  
  
"Are you deaf, I asked you what you are doing here?" The Schnauzer's mouth opened closed as if it was barking, but what Steve heard were the words.  
  
"Are you talking to me?" Steve asked incredibly. He had felt his own mouth open, and the air leave his throat, and his tongue vibrate with sound, but there was no bark or whine, just words.  
  
"Who else would I be talking to, a cat?" the dog said rather sarcastically. The salty colored brows were drawn down as if the dog was getting angry.  
  
"I guess you wouldn't be. Talking to a cat that is." Steve said.  
  
"Of course I wouldn't. Now, are you going to answer my question or do I have to get rough."  
  
Steve stared down at what he knew to be a male Schnauzer. The dog was smaller than Steve, but Steve knew Schnauzers were very brave and tough dogs for their size.  
  
"No need to get rough, I'm just resting here." Steve said.  
  
"Well, as if you didn't know, you're in my territory. I don't see no collar, so you aren't waiting for your human. Which means you don't have a good reason for coming into my territory." The Schnauzer growled.  
  
"Uhm actually I am waiting for my human. This is his car." Steve answered trying to avoid a fight.  
  
The Schnauzer glared at Steve, "Where's your collar, then?"  
  
"I got lost, but I found my way back." Steve answered.  
  
"Fine then, pet. You got my permission to wait, but don't you be going any further into my territory. The bitches here all belong to me. Got it!"  
  
"Yeah, uh no problem." Steve answered quickly. If the Schnauzer had been human, Steve would have been suspicious that the dog was a pimp.  
  
The Schnauzer, satisfied, stood and walked away from Mark's car. Steve watched him leave the parking lot, then laid his head back on his paws.  
  
His head was spinning. He had just had a conversation with a dog, and he himself was a dog. And as he contemplated those thoughts, it occurred to him that his Dad would not recognize him. Steve suddenly felt a wave of panic rush over him, and came out from underneath the car just in time to see Mark Sloan exit the hospital and head in the direction of his car. 


End file.
